November 12, 2018:
Safeguarding Ireland was delighted to support the FraudSMART, National Fraud Awareness Week, campaign led by the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland, a Safeguarding Ireland member organisation.
Lots of information is available on the website at www.fraudsmart.ie. There are information leaflets and videos there. The campaign can be followed on Twitter @fraudsmart and at facebook.com/FraudSMART.
There are many different types of abuses of vulnerable adults in Ireland and there is a need for greater public understanding of what constitutes abuse and that these abuses are crimes. The most recent report on alleged adult abuse in Ireland from the HSE National Safeguarding Office (published in June 2017) reported 10,118 concerns of alleged abuse including:
- Physical abuse 37%
- Psychological 29%
- Financial abuse at 11%.
The risk of financial abuse increases with age-accounting for 1 in 4 cases over 65 years. The risk increases with age with those over 80 years, particularly men the most vulnerable. Adult children and relatives pose the greatest risk to vulnerable adults, accounting for 7 in 10 persons of concern in cases dealt with by the HSE Safeguarding Teams.
Safeguarding Ireland would encourage anyone with concerns about Financial Abuse to act up on it. Financial abuse can be reported to a HSE Safeguarding Team. Contact details are here.
Further Information
Ronan Cavanagh, Safeguarding Ireland / Cavanagh Communications: (086) 317 9731 / info@d1659248-135126.blacknighthosting.com / T: @safeguardingire #safeguardingire / F: www.facebook.com/safeguardingire
